Pyretta Blaze
by V the Happy Lurker
Summary: {The 3rd in a prequel trilogy.} Lina's forced to fill in for her big sister, Gourry's got weddings on the brain, and Xellos is about to be sacked. Add in on homicidial slug, & you have the makings of a songfic!


                A quick note, you may want to read (or at least skim over…) Wolf Moon and Down In A Hole before reading this, because these stories are meant to form a prologue trilogy. Have I bored you enough? Yes? Okay, then I'll just spout the disclaimers and leave you to the fic-age! 

**Disclaimer:**

_I don't own SLAYERS!  All rights belong to Kanzaka-sama, Araizumi-sama, and Software Sculptors. I just enjoy using the characters for my own twisted amusements. Be warned there is mild OOC-ing, fan-made characters, and additional weirdness. Oh, and the song is "Pyretta Blaze," performed by the wonderful Goth-metal gods of  Type Negative. _****

_Pyretta Blaze_

Hoof-beats echoed through the still mountain air as a rider sped down the pass. The stallion's nostrils flared and blasted out white vapor, the powerful muscles tensing and pulling beneath the glossy copper-tone hide as he rode at a breathtaking gallop. The horse's radiantly blonde mane was matched by the equally lustrous, windswept locks of its rider. Dust and sparks flew out form beneath iron shoes as hoof met road in a swift, clattering tempo of graceful movement. Suddenly, the horse rears, shrieking in terror as it throws the rider to the gravelly ground.  

            "*DOH-OFH!* Hey!" The rider stands, dusting off of his blue tunic. Gourry quickly grabs the crazily flailing bridle as wild-eyed animal bucks and paws the ground. "What's gotten into you, Bruno?" He asked gently petting its neck soothingly. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices someone standing in the center of the road. Turning, Gourry now is face to face with a violet-haired priest. "Oi! Gomen nasai, Xellos-san! I didn't mean to almost trample you like that." He laughs, putting a hand behind his head. 

            Xellos says nothing, his normally smiling face now grim and cold. His eyes were hidden beneath his bangs. 

The goofy grin on his face widens. "Are you on your way to Zefiela for Lina's birthday?"

Silence.

"Well, that's were I'm headed." He states, trying to calm Bruno, who was trembling and whinnying in fear.

            Xellos' lip twitches slightly, but he remains silent.   

To anyone else, this would have been a sign that they should start running like hell, but Gourry has never been the brightest crayon in the box… He just shrugs it off and continued. "Xellos, since you're really good at keeping secrets, I think you should be the first to see the present I got Lina." He turns and pulls a small black box bound by a red ribbon out of the saddlebag. Sliding the ribbon off, he opens the lid, revealing a massive silver ring designed to look like a coiled sea-serpent with its head thrown back facing upward. In the jaws was set a large, flawless blue diamond polished into an oval shaped orb. Each of the dragon's eyes and the carbuncle in the center of its forehead were tiny rubies, also perfect oval orbs.

Xellos' eyes open wide at the sight of it. "Where…where did you find _that_?"

"Why?" Gourry takes it out and looks the ring over. "It's too gaudy, right?"

 "Of course not!" Nervously, he forces a smile. "Its just a ring that… _curious_ is usually difficult to find around here. Where did you find such a…an _remarkable _piece of jewelry?"

 "In some old ruin near the sea. I thought it might be magical, so I went to ask that dragon-guy, uh,… What's his name? Mil-goose, Mol-graze-ah, or was it Millstone…Oh well, it doesn't matter now." Gourry chuckles. "When I showed it to him, he started talking about a big monster that the Ryuzoku sealed away or something like that. He didn't seem too happy to see it, so he gave the ring to me. But that's not why it so special to me…" He puts the ring back into its box, looking at it fondly. "It's an engagement ring." 

            "Engagement ring?" The smile wavered.  He felt a familiarly nasty twisting somewhere deep inside.

"Yep, that's exactly what it is!" Blushing, Gourry timidly asks, "Do you think Lina'll like it? I don't wanna come all this way to propose to her and then find out she doesn't like the ring!"

 Tightening his grip on the staff, Xellos' free hand clenches into a fist as the mazoku desperately fights to control his swiftly raising temper. "It's…it's lovely." He finally managed to croak. "I'm…sure she'll love it."

            "Really?" He looks doubtfully at the ring, chewing his lip. "You don't think it's too much, do you?"

            "No. It's…_perfect._" Before he completely loses control, Xellos pushed past the swordsman and hurries down the road.

            "Hey! What's...." By the time Gourry had turned around, the priest had made yet another of his disappearances. He shrugged. "Guess he had something else to do." Readjusting the saddle and bridle, he remounts his horse. "Well, Bruno, lets get going!" 

            Bruno breathes a sigh of relief and happily gallops off.

*          *            *

            Watching the road from a rocky ledge at the edge of the forest, Yethund shifted uneasily on his haunches. Juu-ou had ordered them to find and return with the general. So, for the last season or so, they had been searching high and low for him. He scratched his shaggy, mastiff like head and tried to figure out why she had insisted that they trek all the way out _here_. Surely, the general wasn't stupid enough to be caught dead in _this_ village. Yethund shuddered at the thought. It was a virtual death sentence for a mazoku to go into Zefiela, even one as powerful as the general. And though Juu-ou had so generously bestowed upon him an enormous pack of demonic wolves, Yethund was hesitant to get too close to the place. 

His ears perk up at the sound of hooves pounding quickly toward them. Grinning at the notion of having some fun and an easy snack, Yethund crouches low and ready himself to pounce upon the unfortunate rider. Just as he had leapt into the air, something heavy and cold wraps tightly around his throat, slamming him onto the ground and yanking him violently backwards across the jagged gravel. Sputtering and growling obscenities, Yethund glares up at him assailant. He gapes in shock, his sickly green-yellow eyes as wide as saucers. "Xellos-san!"

            Gripping a massive chain of cold iron in one hand, Xellos stares icily down at the monstrous beastman. "Hello, Yethund. It's been awhile since I've seen you." 

            "G-g-good to see you too, sir."  Yethund whimpers. "F-funny we should bump into you here. Juu-ou had us looking everywhere for you."

            "Oh, she has?" He says flatly, tightening the chain. "And why is Juu-ou so keen on finding me at the moment?"

            "I…*gulp!* have no idea!" 

            "You're making me angry, Yethund." The frozen razor of his voice slices the still mountain air as he causally tightens the chain.

            "I'm…telling you the truth!" The beast-man wheezes, pawing feebly at his neck. "Please…please don't kill me!"

            "Very well." The chain goes slack, then uncoils itself from around his neck. It rattles and snakes around for a moment, finally withdrawing into the loose, yellow sleeve.  "Gather the boys. We're heading to the…"

            "But-but, Xellos-san!" Yethund snivels. "I was given very strict orders to return with you to Wolf Pack Island immediately."

            The look Xellos gave him could have melted steel. 

            Yethund gulped. "Eh…what were you orders again, oh merciful general?"

            "We're going to Zefiela."

            "Right, to Ze…WHAT?!" 

            "We're going to Zefiela. Now." With that he turns, marching stiffly toward the village road. Barely five steps from the cliff, he stumbles and found himself sprawled face-down on a smoothly polished black granite floor. As he sits up, a low dais with a couch covered by wolf skins comes into view.

            Reclining upon the couch is a cruelly beautiful women, her curvaceous figure clad in a silken, diaphanous chiton robe. Dangling from her wrists, ankles, and neck are glimmering bangles and chains of lustrous gold. They shine against her deeply bronzed skin. A mane of ashen blonde hair hangs loose in wild curls and waves about her face and shoulders, mirroring the wispy tendrils of smoke rising from the plain clay pipe she wields causally in one hand with the air of a born king handling his scepter. Gently, she smiles down at Xellos, yet her fierce golden eyes betray her anger.

            "So, at last, my prodigal son has come home." The pipe flicks sharply, spilling ashes and embers across the floor. "I had such high hopes for you, Xellos. You were ever the loyal servant…never disobedient…never questioning…But now?" She pauses to take a drag off her pipe. "Now you defy me? I order you to kill one little girl. One pathetic, _mortal_ little girl…and you refuse. Why? Are you afraid of her? Or was the order just too  difficult for you to carry out?"

            "Zelas-sama, please give me a chance to…"  

            "SILENCE!" She roared, causing Xellos to shrink back. "I will not abide any attempts at stalling on your part. I gave you an order, and I expect that order to be obeyed. Now, go and kill Lina Inverse…and as proof, bring me back her head, on a platter."

            "No."

            "What?" She hisses, glaring at him in disbelief. 

            "I said, 'no.' As in 'no, I will _not_ kill Lina Inverse' and 'no, I will _not _bring you her head upon a platter.'" 

            Her face contorts in rage, then suddenly shifts to amused contempt. "I _will_, I _will_ _not_?" The laughter that followed was cold and mirthless. "You speak of will as if you actually _had_ one. I afraid you've forgotten what you are, my foolish Xellos: You are my servant. My power is your power, my will _is_ your will. Without me you are _nothing_."

            "Are you so sure?" Xellos sneers, now standing boldly before her.

            "Watch your tongue, boy." She growls, getting right up in his face. "I _made _you, Xellos. And I can _un-_makeyou just as easily."

            "Maybe that's what I want, _mother_."

            She rears back, bristling. "You ungrateful little bastard…"

            "Now, now Zelas-sama. There's no need to get all upset." He purrs, smiling. "I was just stating a fact. Besides, I don't think you need to concern yourself with Miss Lina Inverse anymore. In a short time, she'll no longer be a…problem to us."

            "Just what are you…" The dark lord stops, her eyes widening in realization. She takes a step back and puffs thoughtfully on her pipe. "Well, well…this does make quite a unique little twist, doesn't it? I wasn't sure we should try it, though." Puff-puff-pheff! "Ah, what the hell! It'll be a lot more interesting than just killing her off." Zelas goes back to her couch and lays down. "You are free to continue as you wish, Xellos."

             "Thank you very much, my most gracious master." The mazoku beamed with delight as he vanishes from the room.

*          *            *

            "I am so bored!" Lina grumbled, thumping onto her sister's bed. "Gah! There's nothing to do around here!"

            "There is plenty to do, sis." Luna tosses a waitress's uniform to her. "You can help me out in the restaurant by filling in for me today. You know, taking customers' orders, busing tables, mopping the dining room. Then, you can do the dishes, sweep off the steps, clean out the toilets…"

            "But, nee-chan!" The redhead glares at her sister. "If people see me scrubbing out toilets my reputation as the greatest (and most beautiful!) sorceress in history would be ruined! The legendary Lina Inverse is destined to do greater things! She should be out battling Dark Lords, slaying monsters, thrashing hordes of bandits…"

            "And promptly relieving them of all their gold." 

            "Well, yeah…you don't have to make it sound like a bad thing…"

            "Look, Lina," Luna pulls a heavy pair of boots. "It's not like I have anything against the why you do things, but there's more to life than just adventuring and looting random treasure troves. There's a…"

            "Yeah, yeah…I know, I know. There's a delicate balance in the world between chaos and order, and it's your duty to preserve the way of order, blah-blah… I should learn to make something of my life… Blah-blah-blah! Yadda-yadda!" She growled. "You've been beating me over the head with it ever since we were kids!"

            "Yes, but you still haven't done anything yet!" She slips the breastplate over her head. 

            "Nani?! What do you mean I haven't done anything?! Who was it that went out and fought Shabranigdo? Who was the one to face the Demon Dragon King Gav?  Who summoned the Lord of Nightmares to defeat Phibrizo and nearly lost her soul because of it? And just tell me which one of us had to face Darkstar because her big sister refused to quit her job as a waitress?!"

            "So what?" Luna straps on a greave. 

            She nearly falls over in shock. "I've risked my life for the sake of humanity practically once every six months for the last three years and all you can say is 'so what?' Grrr!!!! What the hell do you want from me?!"

            "Now, now, Lina-chan…There's no need to yell." She takes a look at herself in the mirror and smoothes an errant wrinkle in her skirt. "I showed my appreciation for what you and your companions did, didn't I?"

            "Oh sure. You sent me a card…one measly little card…and it was a cheap one too. Couldn't spring for a nicer one, could you? Oh no! You just sent me a folded piece of paper with the words 'thank you.' Not that I want something like boatloads of money and a parade or anything, but it would've been nice if you had at least sent a box of Mom's homemade, caramel filled, chocolate covered raisins with the card. In fact, maybe you should've just sent me the candy."

            "Oh lord!" Luna chuckles. "I don't think there would be any grapes left in Zefiela if I had done that!" 

            "Ha-ha. Very funny, sis." Lina huffs gloomily. "I haven't eaten that much lately…" 

            "That's right. I've notice that you haven't been acting like yourself lately." She reaches over and felt her forehead. "Are you feeling well, Lina? You're pale as a sheet."

             "I'm fine." The sorceress grouses, jerking away.

            "Are you sure you don't have an infection? You did have that nasty fall few weeks ago."

            "Why are you bringing _that_ up again?"

            "Well, the cut was very deep…"

            "But it healed just fine!" Lina hops off the bed and stuck her leg out. "See? Just a perfectly ordinary, nothing to worry about scar!"

            "Yes, it's healed…but scars shouldn't look like that."

            "What do you mean? It looks okay to me!"

            "A scar shouldn't have a blackish tinge to them."

            "It's not blackish! It just looks like that cause I haven't shaved my legs yet…"

            "Then how do you explain the veins coming off from it?"

            "There aren't any veins! That's a trick of the light."

            "No." Luna shakes her head. "Those are definitely veins…or tendrils. It looks like something's _growing_ in that cut."

            "You're being silly, sis." She laughed nervously. 

            "There's something very, _very_ wrong with you Lina. Won't you tell me about it?"

            "What are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine. I'm fine, fine, fine, and fine!"

            "Then tell what happened the other night. Tell me how you got that scar."

            "Oh, you know." Lina waves it off. "I was goofing around with a spell and slipped. It happens to the best of us."

            "Then who were you talking to?"

            "Huh?" She stares at her sister in stunned disbelief. "I wasn't talking to anyone."

            "But I heard you!" Luna snaps. "You were arguing with someone. Then it sounded like the window was smashed out and I saw you jump out into the yard, chasing a _wolf_…"            

            "Wolves? Here?" Lina chuckles. "You must've been having a nightmare, Luna."

            "It seemed too real to have been just a dream…" 

            "Oh well, that's just the way nightmares are. They always seem too real when you have them." 

            "I suppose you're right." Luna takes her mace out of the closet, then hands Lina her waitress uniform.

            "What's this for?" Lina barks as she takes the supremely cheesecake outfit from her big sister.

            "You're going to have to fill in for me today. There some very…urgent issues I must personally attend to."

            "And just what can be soooo important? You wouldn't even miss work to save the damn world!" 

            "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

            "No, I'm _not_. Ever."

            "Look, this is a matter which involves Zefiela itself." Luna states with a grave air as she shoulders the mace. "I've sworn to defend this, and _only_ this, village from harm. Besides, you have much more hands on experience with dark magic than I do, so it was only natural for me to recommend you for that whole Darkstar thing. After all, they say you should always send the best man…er, _wo_man for the job." 

            "Well," Lina muses, succumbing to her sister's flattery. "I can see why you'd want me to handle stuff like that, seeing as I'm only the greatest sorceress alive." 

            "Good! Now, hurry up and get dressed. Your shift started five minutes ago." 

*          *            *

            'Well, this is it!' Gourry sighs, stopping and dismounting from his horse as he gazed up the cobbled, sun-drenched streets of Zefiela. 'Now, to find Lina…' Suddenly, there's a deep rumbling growl. "But first, I'm going to eat." Leading his faithful steed, the platinum-haired swordsman makes a bee-line for the nearest restaurant, which bore the eloquent title _"Bilbo Baggin's All-You-Can-Eat Buffet & Fest Hall."_  

            Soon, our dear jelly-fish head had ensconced himself at a table and was doing a quick check of the menu to see which side he wanted to start on when a tiny, red-headed waitress in a rather ill-fitting uniform and white, school-girl stockings came over.

            "What do you… er, I mean, Hello-sir, How-may-I-help-you?" she grumbled.

            "I'll have the…LINA?!" 

            "GOURRY?!" She blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

            "Well, I was feeling a bit hungry, so I…"

            "No-no! I meant, what are you doing in Zefiela!" 

            "Oh!" He grinned stupidly, putting a hand behind his head. "I wanted to wish you a happy 18th Birthday, Lina."

            "Uh, Gourry… My birthday was 4 _months _ago." 

            "Really?! Doh!" The swordsman blushed in embarrassment. "I must've got it mixed up with Syphiel's again."

            "Ah, don't worry about it." Lina grinned and thrust out a hand expectantly. "Whaddja get me?"

            This made poor Gourry turn an even darker shade of red. "Uh-well,…you see…no, that's not right! I, er…" 

            The sorceress became decidedly glum. "Let me guess: You didn't bring me a present, did you?"

            "Actually, I did!" Taking a deep breath, he stood and dropped to one knee before a very puzzled Lina. "Lina," He pulled out the box. "Will you…"

            "Eh, excuse me."

            Both of them whip around to look at the cloaked man with blue-black skin looming over them. "I believe you have something that belongs to me. And I'd like it back. Now."

            "Hey mister, don't you know it's rude to…Oh, GAWD!" Before the impetuous sorceress can finish her retort, she's overwhelmed by the reek of rotten fish. "Gah! What's that smell?"

            "I phink it'sh this guy." Gourry mutters, pinching his nostrils shut.

            The stranger makes a noise half-way between a snarl and a clogged toilet. "I don't think you're listening, filth. You have something that is very, _very_ important to me. I demand that you return it to me, or else…"

            "Look, Mister Stinky, it's not nice just to barge in and start making demands! Now, why don't you go and take a moment to re-acquaint yourself with some soap."

            " 'Mister _Stinky_'? _STINKY?!" _He gargle-growled in annoyance. "Stupid bitch, do you have any idea who you are talking to?!"

            "Hey! Don't _you_ have any idea _who_ you've just insulted?!" Lina roared, pouncing up onto the table as she posed against a brilliantly backdrop of fireworks. "I'm Lina Inverse, the famous, and incredibly beautiful sorcery genius! Slayer of bandits, Dark Lords, dragons, and much beloved savior of the World!"

            "And I'm Gourry Gabriev, her bodyguard." The swordsman added, popping up to her right. 

            The stranger just stared at them blankly. "Lina-who?"

            The backdrop shatters and a piece whamps the stunned girl on the head. She recovers quickly enough to shout, "You mean to tell me you've never heard of the great Lina Inverse?! The sorceress whose beauty and power are legendary?!"

            The stranger scratched his head. "Uh-nope. The name doesn't sound familiar. But I have heard of quite a few Gabrievs, considering the fact that they've got the sword Garnova." 

            "Then you have to know who I am!" Lina whined. "After all, Gourry's been hanging around with me for about, oh, three years, give or take a month." 

            Gourry dimly muttered the amount to himself, counting on his fingers. "Yep," he beamed when he'd finished calculating. "It's been three years, two months, four weeks, and half-a-day since I met Lina."  He leaned into the stranger's ear. "And might I add that, even though she's got the figure of a twelve-year-old boy, it's not smart to piss her off."

            SMACK!  The sound of a serving tray meeting the back of the blonde's head.

"I heard that, jellyfish-brains."

            "Hmm…I'd have to say I agree with the Gabriev's observation." He mused with a nasty gurgle. "You are rather lacking in the chest area."

            "And who the hell asked you, jerk!" she snapped. 

            The stranger forces an oily smile. "My apologizes, Miss Invert…"

            "That's 'Inverse.'"

            "Right." He strains to keep smiling. "As I was about to say, Miss _Inverse,_ my reason for coming to this disg-… eh, _quaint_ little hamlet was that an…item was taken from me. It was a gift from my sweet, poor wife Scylla."

            Lina lighted up. "Is it by any chance valuable? And maybe a hefty reward if we found it?"

            "Lina!" Gourry shook his head. "How could you be so…er, so…"

            "Uncouth?" The stranger offered. 

            "Yeah, what he said."

            "Well, excuse me for wanting a reward." Then she muttered to herself, "You've never complained about it before."

            "That's quite alright." The stranger sighed, a burbling, noxious sound more fitted to a gaseous bog than a person. "The item is merely of…sentimental value. But," He reached into his cloak and withdrew a small, barnacle encrusted sea-chest. Opening it slowly, he revealed a fortune in pearls, gems, and old gold coins. "I'll reward you both handsomely if you return it to me immediately. Do we have a deal?"

            "Sure! Just give us a moment to, eh, find it." With that, Lina pulled Gourry into the backroom. "Okay, now here's what were gonna do: we'll give Stinky out there an empty box, tell 'em it's whatever it was he's been looking for, jack up the price to, oh…four more of those sea-chest and once we've got the loot, give him the old heave-ho. Whaddja think of that, Mister Gabriev? Aren't I a schemer unequaled?"

            "Lina, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!" 

            "Why should I be? The jerk just waltzed in here, demanding we give up some stupid piece of crap his old lady gave him, and is dumb enough to carry around sea-chests full of money!" She laughed in a dimly familiar nasal snicker. "He's just being to be peeled!"

            Gourry stared at her like she'd grown six heads. "What's gotten into you? I knew you're greedy and a bit unethical, but this is just…just out and out wrong, Lina!"

            "Whaddja mean 'wrong'? It's only 'wrong' if they catch you, dear Gourry. Now shut that wagging gob of yours and find me a box. And, if it'd make you feel better, put a chicken bone in it." A nasty leer crosses her lips as the sorceress spoke, her voice becoming …crueler? She plops onto a crate and leans back for a snooze. "Well, what are you standing around for. Hop to it, blondie!"

            "No." 

            "What was that?" Lina snaps forward, glaring like a bandit king.

            "I said 'no', as in 'No, I will NOT give that poor guy a chicken bone!'"

            She threw her head back in a high-pitched cackle. "That's really cute. Now go do what I told you, before I get _mad_."

            "I'm not going to do this. It's not right to play someone dirty like that."

            "Well, _Gourry_," Now there was a dark malice in her smile as she spoke in  low, oddly familiar voice. "Life's a very dirty game. If you weren't a complete idiot, you'd have figured that much out years ago."

            "What's wrong with you?" the swordsman cried, backing away from her. "This is not the Lina I remember."

            "But of course I'm the same Lina!" She wags her finger at him. "You're just imagining things."

            "No! The Lina I knew wouldn't cheat people!" He pauses. "Okay, maybe she _would_, but never like this! She'd at least tell the guy we didn't have anything and then take the money. Besides," Gourry pointed an accusing finger at her. "You act too much like a monster to be My Lina!"

            "Oh, of all the… Gourry, this must be the dumbest thing you've ever said!"

            "Oh, yeah? Well how do you explain that laugh?"

            The frustrated sorceress stared at him. "Laugh? What are you talking about? I laugh just fine!"

            "No you don't! I know a Lina laugh when I hear one, and that definitely wasn't a Lina Inverse laugh!"

            "Alright, smartass. And just what does this laugh sound like?"

            "Like this:" With that, Gourry pulled off a very good 'evil nasal' laugh.

            Lina gaped at him. "That sounds more like Xellos than me!"

            "Hey! It does, doesn't it?" Suddenly, he came to an inspired deduction. "In fact, you're voice sounds exactly like his!"

            "That's a hoot! BWAHAHAHAH AHA-HA-ha…" Her giggling trails off into a sob.

            "Uh…Lina?" The swordsman puts his arm around her. "Are you okay?"

            "Am I okay? Am I okay?!" She whirls on him. "OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY! I'm starting to act like that fucking fruitcake! Xellos comes popping into my room the other night, tries to kill me, then says he's fallen in love with me, and now I'm starting to turn into him! This must be the worst month of my life!"            

            "He said that he loved you?" Gourry's voice trembled a little.

            "And that's not including the huge gash in my leg, Sis forcing me to take her place for a day, and Mister Stinky waiting outside!"

            "He said he loved you." It was flat now.

            "God, what did I do to deserve this mess!"

            "_Xellos_ said he _loved_ you." It turned dangerous.

            Lina glared at him. "Haven't you been listening?"

            Apparently not. "That's why _he_ was on the road this morning!" Gourry fumed. "And why he ran off like that! I can't believe I told him about the ring! And…" 

            "I grow weary of this game." Boomed a glugging voice. The stranger stood silhouetted ominously in the doorway, holding a large, limp thing in his hands. He tossed it on the floor between them. 

            Lina hops back, staring in horror at what was left of the cook. 

            "You monster!" Instinctively, Gourry unsheathed his blade and stood defensively in front of her. 

            "How very observant of you, young Gabriev." The mazoku bowed. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am General Glaucus Charybdis, loyal servant of the Deep Sea Dolphin. And I must ask that you return my property to me, before I have to take more…drastic measures."

            "And tearing people in half isn't drastic enough?" Lina sneered, moving toward Charybdis as Gourry nervously watches. "Look, Stinky, it's like this: Gourry and I don't have this thing you want. Hell, we don't even know what it is! Now, why don't you just go back to your Dolphin or else I'm going to have to kill you."

            "How very presumptuous of you, Miss Inverse. I must say that I do so admire your bravado," the mazoku oozed. "Which makes killing you more the pity."

            "Lina, look out!"

            Before she has a chance to realize what's happening, Charybdis sprouts several tentacles that whip around her and hoist the girl upside down in one blinding second.

            Gourry lunges for the mazoku, only to get smacked through the wall and into the street. He quickly leaps back to his feet and makes another charge for Charybdis.

            "May, aren't we an amusing little creature!" The mazoku laughs as it slimes out of the restaurant, bearing its captive aloft. A free tentacle lashes out and knocks the swordsman into a building on the other side of the street. "It's so nice to play with you mortals. Too bad you break so easily." With that, Charybdis begins to pummel the prone man before he even has a chance to stand back up. 

            "Stop it!" Lina screams, struggling to break loose from the tentacles. 

             "Madame, you are in no position to give me orders." The mazoku tosses Gourry aside. "Besides, I'm not very interested in him anyway."

            Suddenly, something inside our heroine snaps. "That's it! I had it up to HERE with you sick, perverted mazoku! It's bad enough to deal with that fruitcake's constant  come-ons, but I refuse to be tentacle-rape by some ugly slug-beast!"  

            ""Well," Charybdis huffs, dropping the sorceress. "I rather resent the idea that  tentacle monster'll rape every single girl they find." He pauses, then suddenly leers. "But if you play nice, I may reconsider you're offer."

            "Oh, now I'm _really _mad!" The air crackles and hisses as Lina lifts her hands in the air. 

_"Beautiful, yet dangerous…"_

From a nearby roof-top, a figure watches them with a bemused smirk.

_"Like a moth drawn to a flame, I'm the same…"_

"DRAGU-SLAV!" With a roar, she let's the fiery bolt go, blasting the area where Charybdis stood with the force of a nuclear bomb. She smiles at the massive cloud of steam and smoke, spins toward the audience and signs a V. "Victory!"

"All cremated equally." 

            "Impressive…" The smoke billows away in a blast of putrid wind, revealing the massive hulk of the mazoku now filling Lina's field of vision. "It's rare to find such power in a youth, especially one hailing from such a lowly vermin as Man. More the pity, really." Charybdis smiles down at her. 

"As a spark, still I knew…" 

            Before she can even ask what it had to pity, the mazoku opens its gigantic gullet and swallows her whole.

_"I'd be lured, be consumed."_

            "LINA!!!!!!!!!" Roaring with righteous anger, the swordsman charges Charybdis at full tilt, slamming his blade up to the hilt in the monster's back. 

_"She a pyre incarnate, Incinerate!"_

            In pain, the beast rears and whips its body so fiercely around that Gourry looses his grip on the sword and is sent sprawling into the cobblestones. The force of the impact knocks him out cold. Still raging and trashing in pain, Charybdis attempts to pull it from him, but the sword sinks further into the wound. With a final scream of pain, the hilt disappears into his flesh.  

           Gasping and shuddering, the mazoku rounds on a fallen Gourry. "Now, you shall DIE!"        

The figure jumps from his perch and lands between the monster and its prey, cape billowing out like the wings of a fallen angel. "_An inferno/ Turned to flesh…" _comes the gentle sigh. 

            "**_Xellos…_**" Hatred, blind and relentless, blazes in the beast's eyes. 

            The priest merely chuckles. "Hello, Glaucus. How's the misses?"  

            Lunging forward, the frenzied mazoku slams blindly through buildings in an attempt to crush Xellos. The priest deftly dodges causing his foe to whip and flay wildly with its tentacles, vainly trying to strike him as he flashes through the air.

            _"Say the words, I long to hear."_ Xellos teases, easily sidestepping a volley of blows. _"Pinch, bite, kiss, suck, lick, and sear." _Vanishing suddenly from the fray, the slippery trickster priest reappears directly behind his confused, infuriated foe with a mad, dark smile. _"In a pyromantic way, I'm her slave…Living for her to ignite." _

Charybdis bellows in rage, whirling around to annihilate him, but the bellow becomes a shriek of agony as the beast's belly swells to grotesque proportions. A blade of pure light erupts from the bloated pustule, slicing through oily meat and guts.

            _"You are the first," _  

            Out of the gash, a girl clutching a sword-hilt burst forth, bloody and caked all over with snooty goo like a newborn baby. She falls free of the monster's writhing body. 

            _"You will be my last…" _ Delicately, Xellos catches her and cradles the girl in his arms. _"Will be my final words…"_

All around them, the monstrous tentacles dissolve into sludge, raining down in foul clumps. The world seems to slide into darkness, leaving them floating in nothingness. 

            "..._said she…_"

            Stirring, the girl coughs up some gunk, then whispers groggily, "Gah…Gourry?"

            A tear slips from the priest's half-closed eye. He glides down amid the shattered rubble and touches down a few feet from the prone figure of her bodyguard. Tenderly, Xellos lays her down next to the swordsman, resting her head against his dented breastplate, then backs slowly away. The priest walks a little ways before turning to take one last look at the couple. _"Aaaah, Pyretta Blaze…"_ In an instant, he's gone, vanished like dust in the wind. 

*          *            *

            Slowly, Lina wakes to find herself resting safely in the arms of her self-proclaimed guardian. Weakly, she smiles up at the big lug. 'He must have saved me from that slug-monster.' Lina closes her eyes, cuddling closer as a funny warmth fills her. Regrettably, this tender moment is shattered when, as he regains consciousness, Gourry inadvertently gropes her. 

            "JERK!!!" She slaps him so hard that the poor boy goes flying in an arch that ends with him landing about a yard out of Zefiela.  And yet, he can still hear Lina scream and rant, "How could take advantage of me like that?! Just because you saved my life doesn't mean you can feel me up like that! Why, if I had…"

            As she continues ranting and carrying on, Gourry merely sighs with smile. "It's good to have my Lina back."


End file.
